Once I Was Seven Years Old
by writergirl3005
Summary: There are moments in your life that have the potential to change its course. They can be happy, sad or bittersweet; but they will never be forgotten. Written for the Rites of Passage Bingo challenge.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Title of the story comes from the Lukas Graham song 7 Years.

* * *

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Obi Wan had been imagining what his knighting ceremony would be like for quite some time now. Even though he was old enough and prepared enough to undergo the trials, he felt that he wasn't quite ready yet to be a knight. He had several conversations with Master Qui Gon about this. Master had agreed to let Obi Wan be a padawan for some more time. "Until you feel comfortable to becoming a knight Obi Wan," Master Qui Gon had said. "Despite what some Masters might say, there is no rush. We have time."

But as it turned out, they didn't have all the time in the world. They had far less time than he had expected.

It was supposed to happen like _this_.

Master Qui Gon should have been there to see his padawan become a knight. Master Qui Gon should have been the one to welcome him into the ranks of the Jedi knights. Master Qui Gon should have been the one to cut off his padawan braid. Obi Wan could have taken some time just to enjoy being a knight, to settle into his new responsibilities and to get used to them before taking on a padawan himself.

It hadn't happened that way.

Master Dooku had taken Qui Gon's place in the ceremony. Obi Wan had known about Master Dooku, but the two of them had only met on a few occasions and Master Qui Gon was always there to act as a buffer between them. Now, without Master Qui Gon's presence (Obi Wan would never feel Master Qui Gon's presence again), the two Jedi didn't quite know how to deal with each other.

Obi Wan also had to take on a padawan learner immediately. He hadn't wanted to do it, but he had made a promise to Qui Gon. Anakin Skywalker might be the Chosen One, and he needed to be trained. Now that the Sith were back, the matter of Anakin's training had become much more essential.

Obi Wan sighed. It was now time to speak with Yoda and to tell the Grandmaster of his plans to train Anakin. Obi Wan knew how much of a challenge it would be. But he had to do it. It was his responsibility as a Jadi Knight, and also the fulfilment of his promise to Qui Gon.


	2. Chapter 2

Anakin was supposed to be free, that's what everyone said.

But being free meant that he had to join the Jedi.

He had a Master whom he should obey.

The Jedi told him how to dress, how to act, how to think, how to feel.

That was what distressed him the most. Slaves were always free to think what they think, to feel how they feel. The Masters never knew. It was one of the very few freedoms they had, and it was one they clung to with all their might.

But the Jedi were different.

These Masters could tell what you feel, what you think, and will punish you for feeling wrong.

Anakin wasn't even safe in his own mind.

He fiddled with the cuff of the uniform Master Obi Wan had given him. It was something that all Padawan learners were supposed to wear. No exceptions.

Could he say that he was free when he couldn't choose?

That was what freedom meant - that he could choose.

He wasn't free.

He was still a slave.

Anakin hurriedly shoved the thought to the back of his mind. Such thoughts were dangerous.

And these Masters could read his thoughts. What would they do to him if they found out about his rebelliousness?

He needed to keep calm. He needed to keep steady. He needed to obey. For that was the way a slave survived.

He was supposed to be free in joining the Jedi.

But all they did was to guild his chains.


	3. Chapter 3

"I've never had a homemade meal before," said Ahsoka. "Well, I might have had them before I became a Jedi, but I don't remember it now."

Skyguy turned and grinned at her. "Well Snips, that is going to change today. I'm going to make you one of my mother's special dishes. You'll love it. I'm sure of it."

"But Master, I don't think they'll allow you back into the kitchen at the temple without supervision. Not after what happened last time," Ahsoka reminded him. Said time involved Skyguy baking several thousand cookies (of various types and flavours) and handing them all to every single youngling in the temple. Ahsoka still had no idea how he managed to make so many cookies in eight hours. And not to mention the number of varieties that he had made. Every species had at least one kind of cookie that they could have eaten.

Her Master had gotten into a lot of trouble for that. He wasn't supposed to give the younglings more treats than the regulations allowed.

"Don't worry about that," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Pad-uh, Senator Amidala allowed us to use her kitchen for the occasion."

"Oh, she did?" asked Ahsoka, a cheeky grin forming on her face. "And why did she oh so generously allow you to use her kitchen?"

"Well," said Skyguy, "I promised to make her some of her favourite foods, along with some other Tatooine specials that I know."

Ahsoka wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You're not going to add insects to the food again, are you? Humans may be able to eat them, but I'm a Tougura. Insects don't do it for me."

"Don't worry about it, Snips," he reassured her. "I'll make sure that there will be foods that you like."

When they arrived at the Senator's apartment, Skyguy made a beeline for the kitchen. Ahsoka tried to follow, but he had very firmly pushed her out of the kitchen.

"No, this is my treat. You don't need to help. And besides, you're not that good at cooking. I don't want to burn the Senator's kitchen down."

So Ahsoka settled herself on one of the Senator's comfy couches and worked through some of the homework she had. And no matter what she had assigned, Skyguy would go through each question with her, making sure that she wasn't half-assing anything.

She knew that he was only doing it out of concern for her, but that amount of attention was slightly uncomfortable. Masters weren't supposed to be this interested in what their padawans were doing, were they? At least, none of her friends had Masters that hovered as much as Skyguy did.

She still had no idea how to feel about it.

And then there was the matter of Skyguy's relationship with Senator Amidala.

Ahsoka wasn't blind or stupid. She knew exactly what kind of relationship her Master had with Senator Amidala. Honestly, they were fooling themselves if they thought that they were secretive.

But maybe that's why they were able to get away with it. Everyone thought that it was just an affair. But Ahsoka was one of the few who knew that it was so much more.

She had found out entirely by accident. Her Master had left his datapad on the table one day. The screen was still on. And because of a sudden burst of curiosity, Ahsoka looked at what was on the pad.

It was little more than a moment before she wished that she hadn't. Bad enough that it was a love letter that Skyguy had written, it was an incredibly sappy, over the top dramatic love letter. Oh Force, she thought that this kind of sappiness could only be found in trashy romantic holo films and soap operas. Well, it seemed as if she was wrong. She could get cavities just by reading this sap.

And then she caught the signature at the bottom.

_Your loving husband, Anakin Nabarrie._

The datapad fell from her hands, clattering onto the table. It took Ahsoka a few minutes to recover from her shock. She quickly put the datapad back in its place and rushed to the couch. She took out her own datapad and quickly opened up a file which had her homework.

Her Master had entered the room just a second later. Ahsoka was glad that she had put away the datapad when she did; she would have gotten into so much trouble for snooping into Skyguy's private affairs (ahem).

She knew his relationship with Senator Amidala wasn't allowed by the Jedi rules. Even if no one knew about the marriage, anyone with eyes could see just how much he was attached to her. But everyone had just brushed it aside. They were in a war after all. They needed every single Jedi that they could get to aid in the war effort.

Ahsoka had spent so much time grappling with everything. She knew she had to tell the Council about these things. The Jedi rules were there for a reason. They had to be. They worked so well for so many generations of Jedi.

But…

But her Master was so much happier when he was with Senator Amidala. He was calmer, steadier and more peaceful. There was a serenity to him that he never had around the temple. If his attachment to Senator Amidala brought along so much benefit, did she have the right to take it away from him? If it was helping him, was attachment so bad?

Could it be, despite how impossible it was, that the Jedi were wrong about attachment?

She was still puzzling things out when Senator Amidala returned with Threepio. The droid went off to another room, presumably to argue with Artoo.

"Hello Ahsoka," said Senator Amidala as she took off her coat. "How are you? And how is Anakin?"

"Both of us are fine thanks," said Ahsoka. "Master is in-"

"The kitchen," said the Senator. "I can tell from the delicious smells coming from there." She made her way to the kitchen.

"Skyguy doesn't like people hovering over him while he cooks," Ahsoka blurted out. How could Senator Amidala not know this?

The Senator blinked in surprise. "Really? He never minds it when I'm around him."

"Maybe he really likes you," said Ahsoka. She had no idea why she even said something like that. Maybe she just wanted to see how the Senator would react.

But to her disappointment (or relief, she wasn't sure which), Senator Amidala showed no reaction whatsoever. "Maybe you're right," said the Senator and entered the kitchen.

She could hear the two of them greet each other enthusiastically. It seemed as if her Master and the Senator had forgotten that she had better hearing than most humans. There was so much cooing and calling of sweet pet names from the kitchen that she was going to hurl. _Now that would make such a great impression,_ thought Ahsoka. _Skyguy goes to all that effort to make you something nice, and you go and throw up._

But thankfully, they soon stopped with the totally gross cooing, and Master continued on with his cooking. Ahsoka, not wanting to risk hearing anything more, turned her full focus to her homework.

It didn't take very long after that for Master to finish cooking. He and Padme brought everything out to the table. Ahsoka's eyes widened at the amount of food that was there. "Master, are you expecting to feed the entire 501st as well?" asked Ahsoka.

"No," he said. "This is just for the three of us."

Ahsoka stared at him and looked at the amount of food in disbelief. "For the three of us," she said flatly.

"I'll pack up the leftovers for Padme to eat later. She's not good at cooking, and she likes what I cook," he explained. "So whenever I'm on Corecusant, I make a lot of food for Padme."

"Okay," said Ahsoka. It was a good explanation as any.

Her Master severed all of them some food. Ahsoka stared warily at hers. It didn't look like anything she's had before. At least he didn't give her much of it.

"Just try some Ahsoka," he said. "If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. I have made some things that I know you like."

"Alright," she said and took a cautious bite. An explosion of flavour immediately hit her. "Mmmm," she said. "This is so good."

"I'm glad you liked it," said Skyguy, a grin on his face.

It didn't take long for Ahsoka to clear her plate. She took some more helpings of food. She didn't care about the amount of food she was eating. Not when both Senator Amidala and her Master were encouraging her to eat more of it.

"Have as much as you like Ahsoka," said the Senator. "Honestly, Anakin's told me way too many horror stories about the rations you get while you're at the front. You should eat while you have the chance to do so."

Well, if that was the case, they wouldn't mind if she took another helping. It was just so different from the Jedi Temple, where she would be scolded for indulging too much if she ate a lot or at the front where she had to be careful of eating her rations - a lot of the time, they didn't know when they'd get more, so they couldn't go through them too fast.

All too soon, the meal was over, and Senator Amidala waved Ahsoka and Skyguy goodbye. "I hope you two can come again soon. Would you have time during your leave?"

"Yes, we can come the day after tomorrow Padme," said Anakin.

Ahsoka agreed. "Yea! I love this place! I would love to come!"

"You're always welcome Ahsoka, even if you come alone," said Padme.

Ahsoka's montral stripes brightened. There was a warmth in her chest from Padme's offer. It felt good. Maybe, this was what it was like to have a family. And it felt good. Great even. And if it felt this nice, why did the Jedi forbid having families?

_Because they are attachments, and attachments distract us from performing our true duties to the Force_, Ahsoka reminded herself.

But over the next few days, she couldn't help but think that spending time with Master Anakin and Senator Amidala was much preferable to anything else she had done. And in her deepest heart of hearts, she yearned for a family. And she couldn't help but think that she had found that very family with Skyguy and Senator Amidala.


End file.
